EP0899193A1 - Stabilisation de l'axe de rotation d'un engin spatial moyennant des dispositifs de stockage d'énergie cinétique - Google Patents

Stabilisation de l'axe de rotation d'un engin spatial moyennant des dispositifs de stockage d'énergie cinétique Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0899193A1
EP0899193A1 EP98115489A EP98115489A EP0899193A1 EP 0899193 A1 EP0899193 A1 EP 0899193A1 EP 98115489 A EP98115489 A EP 98115489A EP 98115489 A EP98115489 A EP 98115489A EP 0899193 A1 EP0899193 A1 EP 0899193A1
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European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
momentum
spacecraft
transverse
axes
wobble
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Granted
Application number
EP98115489A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0899193B1 (fr
Inventor
Qinghong W. Wang
Michael F. Barsky
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AT&T MVPD Group LLC
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Hughes Electronics Corp
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/24—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control
    • B64G1/28—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using inertia or gyro effect
    • B64G1/283—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using inertia or gyro effect using reaction wheels
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/24—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control
    • B64G1/28—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using inertia or gyro effect
    • B64G1/281—Spin-stabilised spacecraft
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/24—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control
    • B64G1/28—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using inertia or gyro effect
    • B64G1/285—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using inertia or gyro effect using momentum wheels
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/24—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control
    • B64G1/36—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control using sensors, e.g. sun-sensors, horizon sensors
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/24—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control
    • B64G1/38—Guiding or controlling apparatus, e.g. for attitude control damping of oscillations, e.g. nutation dampers

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to methods and systems for damping nutation and removing wobble of a spinning spacecraft.
  • spacecraft such as geosynchronous communication satellites
  • spin about a geometric axis during transfer orbit.
  • One purpose is to take advantage of spin stability of the spacecraft while satisfying thermal and power constraints.
  • a number of disturbance torques which can be caused by incremental velocity or spin speed change maneuvers, for example can alter the attitude of the spacecraft. More specifically, these disturbances can induce nutation in the spacecraft.
  • a mass redistribution during the transfer orbit spin can induce wobble in the spacecraft.
  • nutation damping includes active nutation damping such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,012,992 issued to Salvatore.
  • a problem with these known nutation damping approaches is that they do not account for wobble control.
  • Wobble control has been done by open loop dynamic balancing which requires an estimate of the mass properties of the spacecraft, in-flight iteration, and adjustment after major maneuvers.
  • Spacecraft typically include a large number of spin to transverse inertia ratios and the geometric wobble angle may change drastically during the transfer orbit.
  • a problem with open loop dynamic balancing is the necessity of iterative ground procedures for controlling the wobble. The success of a mission requires a stabilized spin, effective nutation damping, and wobble control.
  • the present invention provides a method of damping nutation and removing wobble of a spacecraft spinning about a given axis.
  • the spacecraft includes first and second momentum sources having linearly independent spin axes in the plane transverse to the given axis.
  • Angular velocities of the spacecraft along orthogonal first and second axes in the transverse plane are sensed.
  • First and second angular velocity signals representative of the angular velocities along the respective first and second axes are then generated.
  • the angular velocity signals are then processed to form first and second control signals representative of first and second desired torques for driving the first and second momentum sources, respectively.
  • the desired torques have a first additive component proportional to the angular velocities for removing the wobble and a second additive component proportional to the first derivatives of the angular velocities for damping the nutation.
  • the first and second momentum sources are then driven in dependence upon the respective first and second control signals.
  • the present invention provides a system for damping nutation and removing wobble of a spacecraft spinning about a given axis.
  • the system includes first and second momentum sources, first and second angular velocity sensors, and a processor which performs the steps in the above-described method.
  • Simultaneous nutation damping (stabilization) and closed-loop dynamic balancing is achieved using velocity sensor measurements and any two or more arbitrarily arranged momentum sources which can provide two dimensional torques in the plane transverse to the spin axis of the spacecraft.
  • the present invention provides nutation damping (stabilization) for all spin to transverse inertia ratios. Further, removal of the wobble angle is done in closed-loop, regardless of mass property shift and spin speed variation.
  • Spacecraft 20 is assumed to be a substantially symmetrical body which nominally spins about the Z axis.
  • Spacecraft 20 includes a pair of angular velocity sensors, such as gyros 22(a-b). Gyros 22(a-b) sense the angular velocities of spacecraft 20 along orthogonal axes in the transverse plane (the XY plane). Gyros 22(a-b) produce respective sensor signals ⁇ x and ⁇ y representative of the respective angular velocities.
  • the sensor signals ⁇ x and ⁇ y are applied to a control processor 24 which forms first and second control signals.
  • the first and second control signals are applied to respective motors 26(a-b) .
  • Motors 26(a-b) drive respective momentum sources 28(a-b) with first and second desired torques T 1 and T 2 represented by the control signals.
  • Momentum sources 28(a-b) may include a momentum wheel or a reaction wheel. Momentum sources 28(a-b) have linearly independent spin axes in the transverse plane, or linearly independent momentum components in the transverse plane (i.e., the projection of their spin axes in the transverse plane are linearly independent). The desired torques are determined such that driving momentum sources 28(a-b) with the desired torques simultaneously damps the nutation and eliminates the wobble of spacecraft 20.
  • W/GWANC Wheel/Gyro Wobble and Nutation Control
  • W/GWANC system 30 includes spacecraft 20, gyros 22(a-b), control processor 24, and momentum sources 28(a-b) (motors 26(a-b) are not shown).
  • momentum sources 28(a-b) are shown in Figure 3.
  • Momentum sources 28(a-b) may be arbitrarily arranged along their spin axes having momentum components in the transverse (XY) plane, or have momentum components (e' w1 , e' w2 ) in the transverse plane such that
  • control processor 24 processes the sensor signals ⁇ x and ⁇ y to drive momentum sources 28(a-b) with first and second desired torques T 1 and T 2 .
  • Driving momentum sources 28(a-b) with the desired torques T 1 and T 2 damps nutation and removes wobble of spacecraft 20.
  • the desired torques T 1 and T 2 have first and second additive components.
  • the first additive component is proportional to the sensed angular velocities for removing the wobble.
  • the second additive component is proportional to the first derivatives of the angular velocities (angular rates) for damping the nutation.
  • Control processor 24 processes the sensor signals ⁇ x and ⁇ y to determine the angular rates.
  • Equation (1) Let: Linearizing Equation (2) around ⁇ 0 ,h 0 gives:
  • Equation (6) represents an imbalance torque in the body frame when products of inertia I 13 and I 23 are present.
  • the present invention is based on the theory of input-output decoupling based control system design. Let u and y be input and output of a system, respectively.
  • the input-output decoupling based design takes the following steps. First, take consecutive derivatives of each component y i of y until at least one component of u appears. The order of derivative ⁇ i at which u first appears is called the relative degree of y 1 .
  • the control law is then synthesized by controlling each y i as a system of order ⁇ i .
  • Equation (14) shows that y 1 is of relative degree one and dependent of u 2 . Because the roll momentum source (aligned along the X axis) is more effective in controlling the pitch (along the Y axis) angular velocity through the cross product ⁇ x h, consider the second term on the right hand side of Equation (14) to be small. That is, assume: The second derivative of y 1 is:
  • the closed-loop system is then of the form: Let: to reduce the number of design parameters to two.
  • K yd is the derivative feedback gain term.
  • K y is the proportional feedback gain term.
  • ⁇ x and ⁇ y are the transverse angular velocities and the terms ⁇ ⁇ x and ⁇ ⁇ y are the transverse angular accelerations. The angular accelerations are determined by taking the derivative of the angular velocities.
  • Equation (36) shows that when ⁇ x ⁇ y > 0 (non-intermediate axis spin), the selection of 0 ⁇ ⁇ 2 / n ⁇ ⁇ x ⁇ y causes a positive feedback of the transverse angular velocity. Positive feedback of the transverse angular velocity is a destabilizing factor for the control system. Therefore, in determining the design parameters, the following constraint is imposed:
  • Equation (34) to (36) The control law shown in Equations (34) to (36) is derived under the assumption that the inertia matrix is diagonal. Now it will be shown that this control law not only damps the nutation (stabilizes the spin), but also balances the system (removes wobble). That is, in steady state, the transverse angular velocities are zero.
  • Equation (8) may be modified to: where:
  • Equation (16) and (17) With products of inertia, Equations (16) and (17) become:
  • Equation (46) shows that control law (34) to (36) has the ability to self balance the spacecraft. This property is attractive because dynamic balancing is done with closed-loop feedback and the balance is maintained even if the mass properties shift. Thus, iterative ground procedures are avoided.
  • Prior art approaches require open loop balancing to null the steady-state transverse angular velocities.
  • the system proposed by the present invention is easy to monitor because the momentum source speeds settle to constants and the body rates are held at zero. Any significant changes in the momentum source speeds or body races indicates anomalous behavior. Furthermore, the behavior of the momentum sources and body in steady-state are predictable and reconcilable with mass property estimates. Conversely, differences between predicted and actual wheel speeds may be used to correct mass properties estimates according to Equation (46).
  • Equation (50) results in the W/GWANC algorithm for an arbitrarily arranged pair of wheels whose axes are linearly independent in the transverse plane.
  • the W/GWANC law is given by: with: where ⁇ and ⁇ n , are design parameters subject to:
  • Equation (61) is then combined with a low-pass quadratic filter of the form: where ⁇ f and ⁇ f are the damping ratio and bandwidth of the quadratic filter.
  • FIG. 2 summarizes the implementation of the W/GWANC algorithm by control processor 24.
  • the W/GWANC algorithm can be used for nutation and wobble control, and spin stabilization about any given axis, e s , in the body frame.
  • One such usage is to spin about LAM axis to reduce the coning loss during LAM firing.
  • Equations (56) and (57) are modified to: where E n is the left null space of e s . It is assumed that e s is closer to z axis. All the results demonstrated are applicable to any other axis.
  • the present invention requires two momentum sources which have linearly independent spin axes in the transverse plane, or the projection of their spin axes in the transverse plane are linearly independent.
  • control processor 24 calculates the two dimensional wheel torque command along transverse axes and distributes it to all available wheels.
  • the present invention may be employed on spacecraft having more than two momentum sources, for instance; a spacecraft having four momentum sources as shown in Figure 4.
  • FIG 4 represents a schematic block diagram of a W/GWANC system 50 according to the present invention.
  • W/GWANC system 50 includes four reaction (or momentum) wheels 52(a-d) and a control processor 54.
  • Control processor 54 calculates the two dimensional wheel torque command along transverse axes and distributes it to wheels 52(a-d).
  • the invention has been tested through simulations for a class of spacecraft mass properties and wheel configurations.
  • the mass properties include all spin to transverse inertia ratios from maximum axis spin, through intermediate axis to minimum axis spin.
  • the wheel configurations include the reaction wheel assembly where the two wheels used for control are either in the transverse plane or have components in the transverse plane.
  • Test 1 Maximum axis spin .
  • the mass properties of a spacecraft at 100% fraction fill is used in the test.
  • the reaction wheels are configured such that two of four wheels are in the x-y plane, and the other two are in the y-z plane.
  • x is the axis of maximum inertia.
  • the objective is to damp the nutation and automatically balance the spacecraft about the x-axis spin.
  • the principal axis of the spacecraft is about 30° from the x axis.
  • the two wheels in the transverse plane i.e., y-z plane
  • Test 2 Minimum axis spin, flat spin recovery .
  • the mass properties are the same as in Test 1.
  • the objective is to damp nutation and balance the spacecraft about the minimum axis (z-axis) spin.
  • the simulation starts with a flat spin about the principal axis of inertia and about a 90° cone angle. Simulation results are depicted in Figures 6(A-C).
  • Test 3 Minimum axis spin, with wheel axes off the transverse plane .
  • the reaction wheels of a spacecraft are configured such that each wheel axis has x, y, and z components.
  • Four wheels or any three wheels can provide desired wheel torques in the transverse plane. But with any two wheels, the torque and momentum envelope lie in a plane which cross the transverse plane with certain angles.
  • Figures 7(A-C) show that with two wheels having linear independent spin axes projected in the transverse plane, W/GWANC damps the nutation and balances the spacecraft.
  • Test 4 Intermediate axis spin, with momentum wheel platforms .
  • the object is to stabilize and balance the spacecraft about a backward z-axis spin.
  • z is the intermediate moment of inertia axis.
  • the control system is implemented with gimballed momentum wheels. It is assumed that both wheel platforms are aligned along the pitch axis, one canted 10° toward positive X-axis and the other -10°. Simulation results are shown in Figures 8(A-C).
  • the present invention may be applied to a spacecraft having only a single momentum source such as a wheel whose axis lies in the transverse plane.
  • single wheel control is also stabilizing, thus allowing a smooth transition in case of one wheel failure.
  • the single wheel control allows removal of wobble about one transverse axis.
  • Single wheel control has the advantages of having the ability to incorporate performance constraints into the design formulation (e.g. wobble angle limit) and simplifies procedures for dynamic balancing.
  • FIG. 9 represents a schematic block diagram of a single wheel W/GWANC system 60.
  • Single wheel W/GWANC system includes a solitary momentum source 62 such as a reaction or momentum wheel, a control processor 64, and two transverse rate gyros 66.
  • Momentum source 62 has an axis which lies, at least primarily, in the transverse plane.
  • the symbol ⁇ is a tuning parameter, where

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)
EP98115489A 1997-08-27 1998-08-18 Stabilisation de l'axe de rotation d'un engin spatial moyennant des dispositifs de stockage d'énergie cinétique Expired - Lifetime EP0899193B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/921,752 US6062512A (en) 1997-08-27 1997-08-27 Wobble and nutation control, and spin stabilization for a spacecraft using momentum conserving devices
US921752 1997-08-27

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EP0899193A1 true EP0899193A1 (fr) 1999-03-03
EP0899193B1 EP0899193B1 (fr) 2005-03-30

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Families Citing this family (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6241194B1 (en) * 1999-06-28 2001-06-05 Honeywell International Inc. Momentum position control
JP3970724B2 (ja) * 2002-08-30 2007-09-05 Ｎｅｃ東芝スペースシステム株式会社 飛翔体の姿勢変更制御装置及び姿勢変更制御方法
US8620496B2 (en) * 2008-07-23 2013-12-31 The Boeing Company Systems and method of controlling a spacecraft using attitude sensors
US8321076B2 (en) * 2009-12-18 2012-11-27 The Boeing Company On-line inertia estimation for use in controlling an aerospace vehicle
JP6000091B2 (ja) 2012-11-27 2016-09-28 三菱重工業株式会社 軌道姿勢制御装置、軌道姿勢制御方法
JP6008713B2 (ja) * 2012-11-28 2016-10-19 三菱重工業株式会社 軌道姿勢制御装置、軌道姿勢制御方法
JP2014105657A (ja) 2012-11-28 2014-06-09 Mitsubishi Heavy Ind Ltd 軌道姿勢制御装置、軌道姿勢制御方法
US10005568B2 (en) * 2015-11-13 2018-06-26 The Boeing Company Energy efficient satellite maneuvering
US10144531B2 (en) 2016-02-04 2018-12-04 The Boeing Company Reorientation of a spinning spacecraft using gimbaled electric thrusters
US9963248B2 (en) 2016-02-04 2018-05-08 The Boeing Company Spin stabilization of a spacecraft for an orbit maneuver
EP4308459A4 (fr) * 2021-03-16 2025-01-22 Ast & Science Llc Roues d'inertie et roues de réaction d'objets dans l'espace

Citations (4)

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US3591108A (en) * 1967-01-27 1971-07-06 Rca Corp Control system for spinning bodies
US4193570A (en) * 1978-04-19 1980-03-18 The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration Active nutation controller
US5012992A (en) 1988-12-09 1991-05-07 Hughes Aircraft Company Spin stabilization via momentum wheels or similar devices
EP0739818A1 (fr) * 1995-04-28 1996-10-30 Hughes Aircraft Company Méthode et système de stabilisation en rotation d'un satellite utilisant un dispositif de stockage de moment d'inertie transversal à un seul degré de liberté

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US4230294A (en) * 1979-07-23 1980-10-28 Rca Corporation Closed loop roll control for momentum biased satellites
US5816538A (en) * 1994-10-13 1998-10-06 Hughes Electronics Corporation Dynamic decoupler for improved attitude control
US5794892A (en) * 1995-10-25 1998-08-18 Hughes Electronics Critical nutation dampling on spinning bodies via momentum wheels or similar devices
US5826829A (en) * 1996-07-15 1998-10-27 Space Systems/Loral Inc. Spacecraft control system with a trihedral momentum bias wheel configuration

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3591108A (en) * 1967-01-27 1971-07-06 Rca Corp Control system for spinning bodies
US4193570A (en) * 1978-04-19 1980-03-18 The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration Active nutation controller
US5012992A (en) 1988-12-09 1991-05-07 Hughes Aircraft Company Spin stabilization via momentum wheels or similar devices
EP0739818A1 (fr) * 1995-04-28 1996-10-30 Hughes Aircraft Company Méthode et système de stabilisation en rotation d'un satellite utilisant un dispositif de stockage de moment d'inertie transversal à un seul degré de liberté

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EP0899193B1 (fr) 2005-03-30
US6062512A (en) 2000-05-16
DE69829529T2 (de) 2006-02-16
DE69829529D1 (de) 2005-05-04

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